US Marines charged with murdering colleague and wife

Four Marines, including one nicknamed "Psycho", have been charged with the execution-style murder of a fellow Marine and his wife at their home in California.

5:43PM GMT 07 Nov 2008

Two of the men worked for the murdered marine, Sgt Jan Pietrzak, 24, a helicopter mechanic based in San Diego who served in Iraq from 2005 to 2006.

He and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, 26, were found gagged, tied up and shot in the head at their ransacked home in Riverside County, southeast of Los Angeles, last month.

According to court documents, the four men, aged 18 to 21, confessed to investigators that they robbed and murdered Sgt Peitrzak and sexually assaulted and killed his wife after breaking-in in search of valuables last month.

Jewellery and other items were taken and a fire was set before they left, investigators said.

Sgt Pietrzak, who was born in Poland and raised in Brooklyn, New York, joined the Marines in 2003.

Murder charges were filed against Lance Cpl Emrys John, 18, of Maryland, and Lance Cpl Tyrone Miller, 20, of North Carolina – who both worked for Sgt Pietrzak – Pte. Kevin Cox, 20, of Tennessee, and Lance Cpl Kesaun Sykes, 21, of California.

Miller said he forced his way into the home by pointing a shotgun at Sgt Pietrzak, according to an affidavit, before tying him and his wife up and discussing with John whether to kill them.

Cox and Sykes, known as "Psycho," acknowledged they went to the home to rob Sgt Pietrzak. All four said his wife was sexually assaulted.

The men are being held in jail and due in court on November 20. Prosecutors said they had not decided whether to seek the death penalty.